Yankees rumor heats up

[Baseball Guru]

The Kansas City Star

Beltran for Soriano? Hmmm…


Trade outfielder Carlos Beltran to the New York Yankees for second baseman Alfonso Soriano? This is one rumor worth watching.


It all hinges with the Yankees. Are they really are disenchanted with Soriano or just venting frustration after failing to win the World Series?


Sure, Soriano struggled in postseason, but he batted .290 in the regular season with 38 homers and 91 RBIs as a leadoff hitter.


This much is certain: Royals general manager Allard Baird has long coveted Soriano, whom he nearly snagged along with first baseman Nick Johnson a few years ago for outfielder Jermaine Dye before the Yankees nixed the deal at the last moment.


The Yankees currently are contemplating a roster overhaul and see Beltran, 26, as a potential cornerstone for the next several seasons. His addition would allow aging Bernie Williams to shift to a corner outfield post.


Further, the Yankees, as baseball's richest club, have the fiscal clout to absorb Beltran's rising salary, which could approach $10 million in 2004 through arbitration. Beltran becomes a free agent after next season and his agent, Scott Boras, already has floated $120 million over eight years as a minimum offer.


The Royals believe they can structure their payroll to hold onto Beltran through next season but openly admit they can't meet Boras' long-term financial target.


A Soriano-for-Beltran trade would work for the Royals on several levels. Soriano, 25, clearly qualifies as an “impact bat” — which is what Baird cites as the asking price in any trade involving Beltran.


Soriano could play second or shift to the outfield. He also has three years left before qualifying for free agency. And while arbitration should guarantee a large raise from his current $800,000 salary, it should still be far less than what Beltran will cost.


— Bob Dutton/The Star

[PissedPrincess]

My understanding is Soriano is uncoachable. He's gonna eat up bad pitching in the regular season, but decent pitching kills him. He's more of a swing at everything 5 feet off the plate than Shea Hillenbrand. Average at best defensively.

Strikes me as well, for lack of a better word, Dumb.

I'd grab Beltran over him any day if I could afford it, and Gorge can.

[milky_way]

two words: HELL NO.

I'd only trade Sori if we were getting a young, stud pitcher in return.

Beltran is only a marginal upgrade over Sori. That, plus Sori's younger and cheaper (for now).

And don't forget, this is the guy that was our MVP in 2002. He's played with hand injuries for much of this summer and he basically carried the team in the past two Aprils. That, and there's that much talked about POTENTIAL factor. I just can't see how a 25-year-old isn't gonna improve.

And why can't we just stick with Sori and with our right field platoon for one year (we will manage) and try to go after Beltron when he becomes a FA? Or if George must go after an OF this offseason, why not make a play for Vlad? A plus to getting Vlad is that he's basically the same hitter as Sori, only with a strike zone. He could help Sori.

[rockin500]

I'd trade soriano if you can get beltran. soriano will never be that GREAT player that he should be.

he knows no discipline, he wont take any kinda walk at all.

and he sucks defensively.

so trade him!

[Yankee 21]

Originally posted by milky_way
two words: HELL NO.

I'd only trade Sori if we were getting a young, stud pitcher in return.

Beltran is only a marginal upgrade over Sori. That, plus Sori's younger and cheaper (for now).

And don't forget, this is the guy that was our MVP in 2002. He's played with hand injuries for much of this summer and he basically carried the team in the past two Aprils. That, and there's that much talked about POTENTIAL factor. I just can't see how a 25-year-old isn't gonna improve.

And why can't we just stick with Sori and with our right field platoon for one year (we will manage) and try to go after Beltron when he becomes a FA? Or if George must go after an OF this offseason, why not make a play for Vlad? A plus to getting Vlad is that he's basically the same hitter as Sori, only with a strike zone. He could help Sori.

Agree with ya Milky!!!

[Obri]

I also agree milky. I would consider giving up Sori in some situations, but getting Beltran, as good as he is, isn't one of them.

[Cyberlibrarian]

Soriano is the position player equivalent of Weaver IMO. A million-dollar talent with a 10-cent brain. He's fast, but he's not a smart baserunner. He's got a powerful arm, but lousy aim. A beautiful swing, but no understanding of the nuances of hitting. In short, he has very few baseball instincts, and now that other teams are realizing this, they are making adjustments accordingly. Soriano, OTOH, is not.

If you can get him to harness his amazing talent, great. If not, try to pawn him off on a team that thinks a new environment will help him.

[Baseball Guru]

I'm not all that convinced that Beltran is that much of a better player than Soriano that a trade needs to be made....

Beltran made about 5 million more than Soriano last year and they have besically the same type of career stats....

Beltran a higher OBP% but Soriano has more power.....

Everyone rags on Soriano for striking out too much but many may not remember that Beltran struck out 255 times in 2001 and 2002 and only this season cut down his strikeout total....

Soriano on the other hand struck out 282 times and had a few more AB's...

Not a huge difference......

Also Soriano is improving on defense....
He had his best fielding % ever in his career this past season....
Not the greatest but showing improvement....

Again, I heard no talk before the playoffs on how bad he is but he is young and IMO still teachable and I wouldnt mind having him on my team.....

I just think he makes up so much more on his offense that he may lose on D.....

He is one of the best offensive 2B in baseball......

[rockin500]

james, 2b isnt meant to be an OFFENSIVE position. defense is what you really want there. anything above average offense is considered a luxury/bonus. but if you cant play defense, and sori cant, despite the "improvements", you are costing your team. especially a team like the yankees, who need to have a solid defense behind them.

now if we were talking outfield, he'd be what you want. good offense, and could probably field better.

actually, people had been talking about the fact that he was overrated all year long. like, starting in may.

eh, throw in someone else along with beltran, and then it'd be a great trade.

i'd rather have someone like vidro or grudzielanek or even Alomar over soriano.